How Are We Staying Connected?

As hundreds of my coworkers enter their second week of working remotely, and millions across the world do the same, I wanted to share a couple of tips for those who want to stay connected. 

When I first transitioned to working remotely, in 1999, the only real options I had to stay in touch with my team and coworkers were email, phone, and flying out to the office. Today, we have a number of tools at our disposal to keep in touch: chat, video calls, email, phone.  And each has a purpose.

Here is how I use each:

Chat--To ask a question that ideally I'd expect a response quickly, to shoot the s@#t, or to participate in group discussions.

Email--To communicate larger topics, to ask questions that are not time-sensitive, or to send out notices to large distributions groups.

Video calls--To make direct connections, and have a two-way conversation. Great for face to face, as well as for team meetings.

Phone calls--To take photos...since, who actually makes calls with their phone any more? In all seriousness, I use the phone to make calls as a last result, or to text or send an Instant Message. 

As noted, there are dozens of different tools and platforms one can use. Personally, I use Office 365 (which includes Teams and Outlook) for chat and email. I use mostly Blue Jeans or Teams for video calls. And my cell phone for phone calls.

In addition to being familiar with all the different types of ways one can communicate with others, it’s also nice to know some do’s and don’t, and etiquette. As you can probably assume, today one feels connected 24X7. I will say this is the hardest habit to break when you transition to working remotely. You have a sense of urgency to respond right away. Don’t! 

Work is work, and play is play. And especially in these difficult times, it’s going to be more important than ever to find some time for yourself, your family, and your friends. You need to leave work behind, and that means turning off.

For me, I have a dedicated office space, so I’m able to close my door and leave my work computer behind. Some who might not have the luxury, and are working from the kitchen, living room, or some other shared space, shutting a door is not always an option. But turning the computer off is. So, I’d highly recommend that you find a way to shut off your work computer.

But in this mobile age, turning off completely is almost impossible. Me, personally, I very rarely check work email on my phone, and when I do, I usually have to push the emails to my phone, and I don’t have notifications on. That is, I only get email when I log into my email app, and request the email be downloaded. So, I’m not notified every two seconds I’m getting an email.

For chat and instant messaging (IM), I’m not as disciplined. I do have Teams on my phone, and am notified whenever I get a direct message or if somebody mentions my name. But I’ve tried to teach myself to ignore Teams when I’m doing other things outside of the office.

That said, this does bring up a good suggestion for those on the other end of a chat. One thing I’ve tried to stress to folks on my team is that, while I know there is a sense of urgency to respond to an IM, I’ve also tried to stress that if the message comes outside of their working hours, they don’t need to respond right away. I am also trying to teach myself to only send IMs during working hours, and I need to send a message, an email is fine as well. 

It’s not a perfect system, but as long as others are aware that there are working and non-working hours in every person’s day, it will make it easier to maintain a manageable work/life balance. And if you make it clear to others when you are “in the office” and when you are “OOO,” by using setting your settings to “away” or “do not disturb,” this will make it easier for others to know when you might be available. 

If you’re new to this remote working thing, I recommend you check out this course from LinkedIn, Working Remotely and this learning path, Remote Working: Setting Yourself and Your Teams Up for Success.